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The Scottish Government maintains an open dialogue with Liberty Steel and meets with them regularly.

The question of whether or not to install additional equipment at the Dalzell or Clydebridge facilities is an operational matter for Liberty Steel. From recent discussions I understand that there are currently no plans to install an Electric Arc Furnace at either Dalzell or Clydebridge.

The Hydrogen Innovation Scheme is part of the Scottish Government’s £180m Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF), which was announced by Scottish Ministers in the Climate Change Plan Update (December 2020). The EETF will support the development of the hydrogen sector and carbon capture and storage (CCS), including Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) in Scotland by providing capital support until 2026 to accelerate low carbon infrastructure projects that will be essential to deliver net zero. The fund will make £100 million available to support hydrogen projects in line with our Hydrogen Policy Statement. The funding offered to the 32 successful applicants to the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme is the first tranche of this hydrogen funding programme.

Official statistics covering processing times for Child Disability Payment are published as a part of the regularly scheduled quarterly publication. The latest Child Disability Payment statistical publication was published on Tuesday 16 May 2023. Information on the average processing time by month is included in table 9. This publication is available from https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance .

Processing time is the number of working days from part 2 of the application being received to a decision being made or the application being withdrawn. It does not include time to make payments. We would normally advise to allow up to 5 days to reach a bank account once a payment is authorised.

I refer the member to the question S6W-17628 on 25 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Table 1 provides real terms expenditure based on 2021-22 prices for Scottish schools in each year since 2007. Real terms expenditure is broken down by primary, secondary, and special education.

Table 1: Real terms expenditure, 2007-08 to 2021-22 (£000)

The Scottish Government is committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children. Understanding the need from children and families for breakfast provision and planning how to respond to that forms part of several civil servant roles within the Directorate for Children and Families. Civil servants operate flexibly across a range of policies and programmes according to the specific requirements of the work at any time. For example, Directorate officials routinely engage with stakeholders, such as providers and partners in school age childcare early adopter communities, to discuss this policy.

On 4 April I held the first meeting of a group of experts in wellbeing economy, which includes the Carnegie UK Trust, Wellbeing Economy Alliance, and other stakeholders. I have committed to working further with this group as we transition to a Wellbeing Economy. The assessment of the performance measures in the Wellbeing Economy Monitor is currently undertaken by officials, with a clear methodology in terms of measuring change. Given my engagement with the expert group, I am happy to seek their continued views on measuring and reporting. Any updated process should also take account of the conclusions of the ongoing review of Scotland’s National Outcomes to ensure continued alignment. That review is due to conclude in 2024.

I refer to my previous answer to S6W-17502. The Scottish Government has made £30 million of public funding available to meet the target of achieving 6,000 public charge points by 2026.

Electric vehicle strategy and infrastructure expansion plans covering all local authorities in Scotland are expected to be completed over the coming months; these will identify local and regional charge point needs, the investment requirements and best approaches to delivering collaborative investment with commercial Charge Point Operators.

The strategies and infrastructure expansion plans will be agreed by Transport Scotland prior to confirmation of any support from the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund. Transport Scotland anticipate strategy and expansion plans will be published by the end of 2023, these are expected provide details of the charging infrastructure and approach proposed within each local authority area or region.

It is important that public electric vehicle charging infrastructure is planned at the local level to best suit the needs of communities, businesses and visitors. This will influence the number and mix of charge points including their power capabilities and ‘rapidness’. Equally, this will also help identify charge points where there is likely to be market failure and a requirement for public subsidy.

The additional electricity requirements of the charge points supported through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund will be determined by the mix and power outputs of charge points; it is not possible to quantify this in advance. However, on 26 May last year Transport Scotland published a report on the zero emission energy requirements for transport, including plug-in electric vehicles, that considered a range of scenarios out to 2045. One of the key findings of this report was that the amount of electricity (and hydrogen) the transport system is expected to need is well within the limits of what the energy sector is expected to generate.

As highlighted in my previous answer, the arrangements and responsibilities for the supply and maintenance of charge points will be determined through contractual arrangements between local authorities and private Charge Point Operators, which will be subject to public procurement regulations. This may influence the countries from which charge points and ancillary equipment are sourced. The Scottish Government is aware that there are opportunities for Scottish businesses to support the maintenance and repair of charge points and these opportunities are already being realised across parts of the ChargePlace Scotland network.

Transport Scotland has considered the range of skills required for maintenance of electric vehicle charge points. Two courses exist to Institute of the Motor Industry Level 3 in Scotland already and the industry expects electricians with an additional qualification to be able to maintain electric vehicle charge points. The lack of formal recognition of qualifications is a current barrier that will be assessed as part of a review falling under the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan Update. Access to training across Scotland is critical and Transport Scotland has been investing in mobile equipment for colleges to support training in more remote areas and support a Just Transition to Net Zero.

Zero Waste Scotland is not measuring or assessing textiles reuse systematically at a national level.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Circularity Scotland is a not-for-profit private company established on behalf of the industry to deliver the legal responsibilities of drinks producers under Scotland's deposit return scheme regulations. Requests for information relating to its sites should be directed to them.